Enchanted
by Pressing Point
Summary: He only went to the Hyuuga complex because he was on a stupid D-rank mission for Tsunade; He didn't expect to become enchanted by the very girl he'd known as dark and weird all his life; But now he has, Hiashi's began to pull out the family sword
1. How Dumb Can You Be

**Enchanted**

"_An enchanted life has many moments when the heart is overwhelmed with beauty and the imagination is electrified by some haunting quality in the world or by a spirit or voice speaking from deep within a thing, a place, or a person. Enchantment may be_"

~Henry Louis Mencken quotes

**Chapter 1**

Naruto had never really given thought to how he'd die. He always guessed it would be in some epic badass way. You know, the classic hero stuff. He'd die for the ones he loved and yadda yadda yadda… Never… Never ever, ever had he considered the possibility of being murdered by the overprotective Hyuuga Head, Hiashi Hyuuga. But slowly and surely, even someone as dense as he began to notice the signs of the funeral that man planned for him.

It all started the first time Naruto set foot on the sacred Hyuuga grounds. Immediately, all eyes had been cast upon the sunny blond, for he was a foreigner and foreigners did not do well in their grounds. He was so repulsive, so unnatural- in their eyes, that is. Who had blond hair? Seriously! Why would anyone want that hair color! Yellow was the color of pee for crying out loud! Who walked around with pee on their head? Oh, and his clothes! Orange? They couldn't even get started on the horrors that color possessed!

Naruto, being well… Naruto, swaggered into the compound, literally loud and proud, completely oblivious to the fact that the stares he received weren't stares of appreciation but _glares_, glares as in Sasuke-level glares. In the eyes of the all-seeing Hyuugas, first impressions were everything and if it wasn't obvious already, Naruto was making a _horrible_ first impression. But, he didn't go there to make first impressions nor did he go to mingle. He simply went there to deliver a scroll to the Hyuuga Head.

Since Naruto was, well… Naruto, he took his missions seriously no matter how facile they were. However, sometimes his seriousness led to overthinking things just a bit too much.

"Hello!" Naruto yelled, much to the irritation of several Hyuugas. "Can anyone tell me where I'm supposed to find this _head_?" Several eyebrows rose. "I have a scroll for the thing!" Several silver eyes twitched.

After walking around in circles, Naruto spotted a familiar brunet and ran over to him. "Oi! Neji!" he called merrily.

Neji cringed and turned to his pursuer. He didn't have to be a genius- ironic that he was- to figure out whom that voice belonged to. It was loud, really, really loud and super irritable. That category only matched one ninja he knew and that was Naruto Uzumaki- the densest but strongest ninja in the entire village… Oh how his pride remained shattered for days when he had lost to that idiot.

Neji refused the urge to make a mad dash for it while the blond still approached him. He only had two reasons. Number one: he was a Hyuuga and Hyuugas had an aura of cool around them. Running with his tail behind his legs _wasn't _cool. Number two: he was wearing his traditional Hyuuga robes or as Tenten and Hanabi called it… a man_skirt_. And manski-, um, traditional Hyuuga robes, swayed like skirts when he ran and much to his chagrin, Tenten and Hanabi had also told him –no thanks to his long hair- that he looked like a girl when he ran. He had too much pride to allow someone like Naruto to tease him about it too.

When Naruto finally caught up to Neji, he asked, "Do you know where this Hyuuga head I'm supposed to find is?"

Neji cringed for the second time in one minute. Sacrificing his image and pride didn't seem like such a bad idea right now. "Naruto… you're not talking about an _actual head_, are you?"

Naruto grinned widely. "Of course I am! Baa-chan said I should find it here and give it a scroll!"

Neji sighed. He was definitely _not _the kind of person to deal with such idiocy right now. He was about to turn tail and run when he spotted a _much _better option. '_Forgive me, Hinata-sama_'

"Ohhhhh, the head," Neji drawled. "You see… The branch family isn't allowed to ever know where the head is… You're a very lucky guy if you're going to be able to meet this head… I heard it's very, very cool. However, like I sadly stated before, we branch members have no idea where this head is or even what it looks like! Sorry."

Naruto's genuine disheartened demeanor had Neji holding back another cringe. Naruto had… actually… believed him.

"Oh, but Naruto there's still hope!" Neji said quickly. "I just remembered that only main branch members know where the head is and you're in luck! Hinata-sama's a main branch member and she's right over there!" He gestured to the right where an oblivious poor Hinata was gardening to prove his claim. "I'm absolutely certain she can help you!" While Naruto's blue eyes settled on Hinata's form, Neji got the hell ou of dodge.

Naruto turned around to thank Neji but the brunet wasn't there. "Odd," the blond murmured.

He shrugged and merely began to skip over to Hinata, only slowing to a stop when he saw that she was busy doing something. He didn't know why he didn't call out to her nor did he know why he proceeded to hide behind a large oak tree to watch her.

Maybe it was because she looked differently. Well, ever since the incident she not only looked differently but also behaved differently. She didn't stutter, faint or become sick around him anymore after she had lost her memory.

The girl occupying his thoughts wore a modest, violet, empire waist sundress that stopped an inch above her knees. It revealed her long milky white legs that were tucked neatly under her bottom. Long midnight blue hair cascaded gloriously down her back, looking soft and like it smelled nice. He wanted to touch it. Sakura-chan never let him touch her hair.

What struck him most was her face. Her eyelashes were extremely thick and her half-lidded eyes held an intoxicating sense of gentleness. She had a small button nose and rosy, pink lips. From where he was standing, he couldn't exactly make out the color of her eyes. Were they lavender like he had initially thought or a silvery grey like her cousin's? He wanted to find out but his legs were unconditionally stiff. He couldn't move!

After a long debate with himself, Naruto willed his legs to move and they finally did. He took quiet baby steps, hoping to not scare away the cute little white bunny he had stumbled upon. But alas, Naruto was Naruto and fate was a real pain in the old fanny. And so, with fate being the ass she was, she made the poor fox trip over a pebble and land right on the bunny's lap. Instantaneously, every single brown field bunny darted glares towards the blond. He was _touching _their most prized possession! Oh, how they would pelt that fox with carrots later on!

Hinata stared at the blond in her lap, her body completely frozen. Her watering can was tipped and currently giving the flowers too much water.

The two stared at each other and a light blush tinted one of the two's cheeks. Her eyes were just as he thought they were- a gentle lavender color.

"Naruto-san?" Hinata called cautiously.

Realizing the position he was in, Naruto jerked out of her lap and jumped to his feet. "A-Ah, H-Hinata it's not what you think!" he exclaimed. He began to conjure frantic hand motions as he made up an excuse. Before he could finish his pathetic excuse, he felt a distinct chill run down his spine. The danger instinct was kicking in. But what danger could Hinata possibl-?

"You dare to touch my sister in such a crass manner?" Hanabi whispered balefully as evil glints shone in her eyes. She jumped into the scene, literally, with a kick to Naruto's back. Naruto flew into the nearby wall, courtesy of the brunette.

Hanabi dropped the fertilizer she had been holding to the ground, rolled up her yellow sleeves, activated her byakugan and relaxed into a fighting stance. "I leave my sister alone for 5 minutes and she already attracts some blond pervert," she muttered as a ridiculous amount of malice radiated off her. She focused on the to-be-mauled blond. "You little shit. Jyuuken!"

Hinata watched with wide eyes as her younger sister fulfilled her promise of jyuukening the shit out of the poor blond.

"Naruto-san," Hinata whimpered with a slight pout on her lips. She would have helped if she could but Hanabi was scary when she got angry. Hanabi was a true Hyuuga: quiet, over-protective and deadly.

When Hanabi was about to go in for a second round, Hinata swallowed her fears and tackled the irate girl who was still waving angry fists in the air to the ground.

"C-Calm down please, Hanabi-chan!" Hinata pleaded. Hinata rolled off of her sister and the latter proceeded to sit up and glare at Naruto as a frown graced her lips.

Naruto lay motionless on the hard ground, currently seeing stars. Hinata quickly rushed over to him but was unsure how to address him.

He was a… a _boy_! She'd never touched boys other than her cousin, her teammates, those she had to beat up on missions and her male patients… Ok... she touched boys... but not in situations like this! Her father had told her not to go near boys and that if one touched her, she should scream at the top of her lungs. She would have obeyed if the boy wasn't Naruto. But this one was and she had to help him.

Nervously, Hinata poked Naruto in his side. When he didn't respond, Hinata grabbed a nearby stick and poked the 19 year old in his side repeatedly. "Naruto-san?"

The blond snapped back to reality and shot upwards. "Ah, Hinata!" A wide grin settled on his face. He narrowed his eyes when he spotted his ambusher. "Hey you! That was mean! You just attacked your future Hokage ya know!"

Almost robotically, Hanabi tilted her head to the side oh-so-innocently. "Pardon?"

Naruto tensed, knowing the danger instinct was pulsing again. "J-Just kidding!" he hastily apologized. "You can kick my butt anytime!"

Hinata scratched her cheek worriedly and chuckled. She then looked to Naruto and asked, "Why are you here, Naruto-san?"

"Oh! I'm supposed to deliver this scroll-" He pointed to the scroll around his neck. "-to a head! Neji told me that you would know where this head thing was!"

Hinata smiled and scratched her cheek again. "Do you mean, the _Hyuuga Head_?"

"Yeah! I don't know why you guys have a head though…. It's kinda creepy but what's creepier is that a head would need a scroll-"

"No, you baka," Hanabi murmured, highly annoyed. "The _Hyuuga Head_ is a **person** _not _a literal **head**."

"Oh," Naruto murmured. "The old bat must've tried to make me look stupid. I mean, she kept placing stress on the word "Head" so it's only logical to think she meant a real head, right?" Hanabi rolled her eyes and Hinata smiled sympathetically. "Anyways, where exactly is the Hyuuga Head then?"

"This Head you speak of is right here."

Naruto chilled. His danger instinct was pulsing and the danger instinct was always right, Hanabi being the most recent paradigm. That voice from earlier definitely did not belong to Hinata or Hanabi. It belonged to a much, much older person and most likely a male.

Naruto slowly turned around to see a mean-looking and scary man towering above him. The man's hair flowed to his waist like Neji's did but he wore a dress instead of a skirt. Naruto slowly backed away when he saw the man holding a really, really scary looking sword in his hand. The man looked beyond pissed and he seemed to have learned a few intimidating scare-the-crap-out-of-Naruto-face tricks from Yamato, himself.

Hinata and Hanabi didn't seem fazed by his presence and bowed politely. "Good morning, father," the two greeted with deference. Naruto narrowed his eyes at Hanabi's facade. She was the exact opposite of reverent. Though he wanted to question her shady behavior, he felt an even stronger need to be anywhere but near the man who vehemently wanted to murder him.

Naruto quickly rose to his feet, unable to miss that the man was still taller than him by about ten centimeters. "A-Ah, um, here's your scroll, Hyuuga-sama!" Naruto bowed, handed the man the scroll and got the hell out of the compound.

Hinata watched the trail Naruto disappeared on quizzically and Hanabi happily smirked on the inside.

"Father," Hinata called, turning her attention back to the Hyuuga Head. "Why do you have the family sword out?"

"No reason," Hiashi answered, gripping the sword tighter. The family sword was used in heavy battle, wars etc. But it was also used by the father to protect his daughter from unworthy men. By the looks of that blond idiot, Hiashi was sure he was going to have to hold on to his sword a little bit tighter. "Hinata, I think we need to have that boy talk again."


	2. Friendly, Scary Touch

**Enchanted**

"Families are like fudge - mostly sweet with a few nuts."  
>~Author Unknown<p>

**Chapter 2- Friendly, Scary Touch**

The next day, Naruto was assigned another D-rank mission. Tsunade made it a goal of hers to have him perform as much C and D-rank missions as possible before he could become Hokage. That meant an entire year of chasing animals, digging through rice fields, delivering scrolls and escorting a bunch of ungrateful old fart Franks and Gertrudes wherever they demanded to be escorted. Those missions could possibly kill him but he was almost certain that the butt-faced Hyuugas would get to him first, Hiashi in particular. The signs that the Hyuugas wanted him dead became clearer to him the day after his encounter with their heiress.

It was the average bright and sunny Konoha day and Naruto was busy carrying out another D-rank mission. He was madly chasing after dogs, making leaps and lunges to grab the damned things but those actions only resulted in him falling in all kinds of gross liquids. First it was mud, second it was a kid's vomit and third it was pee. When he finally caught the demon dogs, he grudgingly returned them to their owner but how could he leave without the gift of pleasant scratches, scrapes and flat out gnaws to his skin?

After callously giving a snickering Tsunade his mission report, he headed straight towards the hospital where his doctor, Sakura, would hopefully tend to some of the deep wounds he got. No such luck. The pink haired medic-nin wasn't in today because she was sick. Naruto wasn't a complete buffoon. He knew the story Sakura told the receptionist was a complete lie because of two reasons. One, Sakura was a perfectionist. She'd never allow herself to get sick. Two, Sasuke came back from his mission yesterday… That was self-explanatory.

The positive and negative side to his resulting predicament was that he received the very heiress he came into contact with yesterday as his doctor.

As he watched her move daintily in her white lab coat and matching pants, he noticed something very, very different about this Hinata and the two he knew before. He met the first Hinata when they were children. She was incredibly shy, always sick with some blushing disease –well around him she was- and could only last three seconds in a conversation with him before fainting, something she did a whole lot. The second Hinata he knew was her 16 year old self. That Hinata was still shy but it was obvious that she had gained some confidence. She still blushed a lot but not as much as before and she could last a full 7 seconds before fainting, something that occurred a lot less frequently than before. That Hinata was also the one who had saved him from being kidnapped from Pain. He owed that Hinata a lot for that one.

This Hinata wasn't very shy. She didn't stutter when speaking to him nor did she divert her gaze to the floor. She kept eye-contact and didn't seem troubled by it. This Hinata didn't blush as often but when she did blush, it was only an extremely faint pink rather than the usual deep red shades. This Hinata had engaged in conversation with him for a full 10 minutes so far and she hadn't fainted once!

He didn't know why, but a part of him longed desperately for the shy and blushing Hinata he used to know. Seeing her as a confident young woman was nice but her shy persona was… cute…

"That must've been horrible!" Hinata exclaimed, sympathizing with him as a small smile played on her lips.

"I know! Those demon-dogs were so… so…"

"Troublesome?"

"Dattebayo, Hina-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

Hinata tilted her head to the side. "Hina-chan?"

Naruto blushed a bit. "It's like a nickname. Like… I call Sasuke, Sasuke-teme and call Kiba 'dog breath'!" He scratched his head. "Hm. I never, ever call Choji fa-"

Hinata quickly clipped Naruto's lips together. "Naruto-san, Choji is in the hospital today. He hears everything. That word is taboo." Naruto's face paled. After a minute, Hinata smiled. "I like my nickname, though."

Naruto blushed.

Hinata sat next to him on the white bed and uncapped a circular container. She dug out a clump of her special renovated Hyuuga healing balm and smeared the lavender substance to Naruto's tan skin. She covered his scratched cheeks, forehead, chin, neck and arms with the cream.

"W-Will it hurt?" Naruto stuttered out, his sapphire blue eyes displaying hints of worry. He was always terrified of the odd medical things used on him as a kid. Now that he was older and 1% wiser, he was only _mildly_ terrified of them.

Hinata gave him a reassuring smile and whispered, "It's going to sting just a little bit… but you're a big boy and I'm sure you can handle it!" She gently stroked the cream over his cuts.

Naruto winced in pain and squeezed the nearest thing he could find, which just happened to be Hinata's free hand. It was soft and smooth. It felt gentle and delicate. Naruto's cheeks tinted a light pink but Hinata didn't seem to be flustered at all. Instead she gave a content smile and continued spreading cream over his wounds. The sting only lasted a few seconds but he still squeezed her hand. It made him feel warm. Her fingers against his skin felt nice. He liked it. He liked it a lot.

As soon as she finished applying the cream, she looked into Naruto's blue eyes and smiled. "You can let go of my hand now. I don't think it should hurt anymore."

Naruto blushed in embarrassment and reluctantly pulled his hand away.

"Just stay as still as possible for a minute and your skin will be back to normal," Hinata ordered as she packed up the ointment and took it back to its shelf.

Naruto watched as his cuts began to heal. It felt like little soothing tickles whenever one closed up. His eyes traveled back to Hinata's form as she moved over to her table, packing her things up neatly.

"Hey, Hina-chan, when will you be finished with work?"

"Oh. I usually get off at 6 but since you came…" She checked her golden watch. "I should be finished by 6:15."

"I'm sorry."

Hinata flashed Naruto a bright smile. "No need to apologize. I enjoy helping people!"

Naruto grinned.

"Now, it's time to get that cream off you," the heiress murmured, snatching a Kleenex from what Naruto usually referred to as a never ending magic tissue box.

She gently wiped the cream off the covered spots, revealing healthy skin.

She threw the tissue into the nearby trashcan and grabbed her handbag from the table.

Naruto jumped to his feet and stretched, observing Hinata's soft, swift movements. She was like a little pixie, floating to and fro.

She finally settled at the door and turned off the lights. She allowed him to leave first but he calmly waited for her in the hall as she locked the door.

Hinata was startled a bit after seeing Naruto waiting for her. "Is there something wrong, Naruto-san?"

'Naruto-san' Naruto thought distastefully. It made him seem old. He preferred it with the 'kun'. But he wasn't about to tell her that. She'd think it was weird. "I was just wondering if you'd like me to walk you home. It's kind of getting dark outside…"

Hinata smiled as the two walked down the hall together, "It's ok, Naruto-san. I don't mind."

"But, I insist! What kind of guy would I be if I didn't walk the lady who just saved my skin home?"

Hinata laughed. "I guess."

The duo walked by the reception counter where the lady gave the pair a questioning glance. It went unseen by them as they exited through the hospital glass doors.

The evening was cool. The wind blew through their hair as they walked in the direction of the Hyuuga compound. The village was full of life, as usual. Kids were still playing in the evening sun and their parents were still trying to calm their little munchkins down. Some shops had closed but the majority was still open.

"Hey, Hinata," Naruto called. "Would you like to go get some ramen?"

"No, thanks, Naruto-san," Hinata declined. "I don't think my father would like that."

"What! You're dad doesn't approve of ramen?"

Hinata laughed. "I doubt he's a fan of ramen…He's more traditional… So we have family dinners every night."

"He's a weird man… I don't think he's lived…"

Hinata giggled.

The rest of the walk was spent in comfortable silence as they approached the gates of the Hyuuga compound.

"Thanks for walking me home, Naruto-san," Hinata said earnestly. "It was fun having your company. Have a good night!" Hinata waved goodbye to the smiling Naruto and entered her home.

Naruto's smile widened. He didn't know why Hinata's simple words made him feel mushy inside. He liked it. Maybe he should plan to see her again tomorrow…

Naruto turned around to leave but he ran into something big and muscular. "I'm sure there wasn't a pole he-" Naruto fell on his bottom and backed away in fear when he saw the Hyuuga head in the flesh using the 'Yamato face' again. He was still holding on to that sword, that awfully big and pointy sword.

Hiashi walked by the blond, making sure to bring attention the sword he carried. "Be careful, Uzumaki," the Hyuuga whispered.

Naruto shivered. The man had to be out to get him. He was a madman after all! He didn't like ramen!

Naruto rose to his feet and was about to run for his dear life when a sword nearly chopped his head off. The blade luckily rammed itself into the wall behind him. Leaning against the wall in front of him was the Hyuuga demon herself, Hanabi.

The brunette crossed her arms and grimaced. "Stay. Away. Uzumaki." She disappeared into the complex, behind her father.

By now, Naruto was running and running, hoping to get away from the crazy clan. They were all nuts! Nuts! The only thing missing was a surprise visit from Neji!

Lurking in the shadows, a byakugan-activated Neji frowned. He didn't get his turn…


	3. Wonderstruck

**Enchanted**

"_The heart that truly loves never forgets_."

~Proverb quotes

**Chapter 3: Wonderstruck**

The warnings of the Hyuugas fell upon deaf ears. What the clan had yet to learn was that intimidating words and small action did not work with people like Naruto. If you wanted him to get something or even as far as _remember_ it, you had to _drill _it into his thick skull with a load of punches and kicks.

That's why Naruto soon forgot about the obvious warnings the Hyuugas gave him.

o

o

o

Naruto realized that he hadn't really spoken to Hinata that much after his fight with Pain. When Hinata was recovering and trying to retain her memory, she had been locked up within the Hyuuga walls for weeks. Only select few- meaning everyone but him- could visit her. Even with the war being over and done with, they didn't have many interactions. He remembered that he thanked her for sacrificing herself for him and that he was extremely grateful to her for that when he saw her during the war… but she didn't react or anything. It was as if she didn't even remember. It was really quite awkward… But other than that and a few incidents when he encountered her with her team… he hadn't really spoken to her.

He didn't even know how she was doing or anything, and he was the cause of her memory loss! He never knew why Hinata sacrificed herself for him. He could recall her saying some words to him but all he drew up was mute. He saw the face but couldn't hear the words. He asked Sakura about it, but she said she couldn't tell him and only Hinata could. It didn't really make sense to him so he didn't press on it. And when he didn't press on it, he guessed he forgot about it.

So, now he made it his goal to really befriend the Hyuuga. She always seemed so nice and fragile. She would probably scatter into a million pieces if she was accidentally tipped over. She was very delicate. Something as delicate as she _needed _someone as robust as he to protect her from the dangers of the world. He just needed a way to see her… you know, without being weird. It'd be odd to just walk up to her like that…

* * *

><p>When Naruto came barreling into Tsunade's office basically requesting a D-rank mission, the blonde Hokage was honestly surprised. The whole point of giving Naruto pointless missions that her genin could do was all for her own amusement. It wouldn't be amusing if he was enjoying it. With a perfectly shaped, raised eyebrow, she gave Naruto one of her set of D-rank missions and the blond was off with a leap through the window shouting 'Dattebayo!'<p>

Tsunade angrily waved her fist after the energetic blond and shouted, "We might be ninjas but we're not hooligans! Stop making a racke-!" Tsunade sighed and her amber eyes relaxed. She didn't want to admit it, but as every day passed by, she noticed that Naruto was getting older and more mature. And unfortunately, despite her young appearance, she was getting older too. Things were changing… But she would never openly admit that to someone like Naruto. He'd never let her live it down.

* * *

><p>Naruto sneezed. Someone was talking thinking about him. "Better not be teme," he murmured. The blond crouched upon a roof, thinking. How exactly could he somehow incorporate seeing Hinata with weeding a garden? He needed to have some sort of reasons to see her. So what could he possibly do… He saw Hinata gardening some days ago but weeding had absolutely nothing to do with gardening, right?

And then a light bulb twinkled above his bright blond hair. "Got it!"

* * *

><p>Hinata lightly twirled around in her leather black doctor chair, her knees pressed against her chest, holding a book in her hands. Only this morning, while at Ino's flower shop, the perky blonde basically shoved the book into her hands and forced her to read it.<p>

Honestly, the book was just as addicting as Ino described it. A battle of emotions, the fight for the one you love, the betrayal, the sacrifice, the hurt, the angst oh the angst. Those were Ino's exact words. Hinata swore her friend was having a Lee "youthful moment" with those happy tears of hers.

That's how she got here. Cooped up in her office, seated on a spinning chair and reading away the day she was supposed to spend working. She politely asked the nurse to send all patients to other doctors if possible. She never expected her office to be _this _empty though… Not that she minded. That meant more book time for her.

She remembered how she immediately became trapped in her own world as soon as she read the title. _As Long As I Love You… I Will Let You Hurt Me_. That very 'L' word is what got her hooked.

No one never really told her about love when they were restoring her memory. It could possibly be her fault because she never asked. She just assumed it was another thing in the sea of other things that she didn't know yet. Sakura always said she was in love with Sasuke. When she said it, she seemed so happy and full of life… even though Sasuke kept on avoiding and rejecting every advance she made. From Hinata's new point of view, Sakura was always levelheaded (except for when provoked) and intelligent. A great companion. She just didn't get why she threw all of her charming qualities to the wind when she saw Sasuke. Around the brooding Uchiha she was clumsy, annoyingly loud and obnoxious. If love made her become a completely different person then love was a weirdo. A really weird weirdo.

Hinata always wondered if she was ever like that. Maybe she loved someone before... When she asked Sakura, hurt constricted into the pinkette's normally cheery face and she just left telling her not to worry about it. It was weird… so she never asked again. So she just put it aside. She thought about it every now and then, trying to remember as much as possible, but she always drew a blank. It frustrated her sometimes. Even though it had been almost a year since her memory had been lost, there were still things she knew she was forgetting.

She had a hard time adjusting to the people, to the new faces. It overwhelmed her at first and hurt her so much. To know that she was causing all this worry made her upset with herself. She wanted to remember, but she couldn't. While the village was preparing for war, she had to start from scratch and rebuild all her relationships. The way they told their stories of her made her feel like she was there and so she accepted them as her knew memories. Even though, to this day she still felt pieces missing. Maybe it was because her old memories wouldn't come back to her.

She once asked her father where her mother was and that resulted in no reply. Behind his cold mask, she saw the sad glint in his eye even if it was for only a fraction of a second. That led her to believe that her mother was taboo to the clan. She was never spoken of. Maybe she had died. Maybe she was a cruel person. Maybe they didn't talk about her because she brought shame to their clan. So because she received no straight answers like she craved and she felt like she was hurting her father, she didn't press on it. And when she didn't press on it, she forgot about it.

The book was thick, a full 700 pages, but Hinata was already half-way through, rummaging through the pages as if they were nothing.

It was everything Ino described it to be. All poor Yuki ever did was love Reji. Reji was always alone, feeling neglected by the world. His parents were criminals and the world saw him as a criminal too. Yuki hated seeing him like that. She thought he was anything but a criminal… however, she was oh-so-shy. She never had courage but Reji did. He eventually gained friends and liked a girl named Mitsu, one of Yuki's friends. All he ever did was pine after her even though she declared she only loved his best friend, Jiro. It was too bad that Reji didn't hear when Mitsu said that. Yuki always tried to get him to love her but her love fell upon deaf ears. He only thought he loved Mitsu. She gave up everything for him. When he was kidnapped and set to be killed, she was the only one who stood up to protect him and she nearly died trying… but not without confessing her love to him. When she awoke, he was smiling at her. He thanked her for coming for him. She asked if he returned her feelings but he was confused. He forgot… her confession… a confession that took 16 years… he forgot it.

Hinata found most of the story oddly familiar. Maybe she did read it before. She never pictured herself as the shy type. No one ever told her that she used to be. They all said she was confident and _independent_. So, that's what she worked to become. She felt bad for Yuki. She hoped she got her happy ending.

Hinata continued reading, her eyes blurring from Yuki's sad words.

'_He forgot. I feel so alone, so trapped. He doesn't remember me… but he remembers her. He remembers Mitsu. Does life hate me? Is that it?… I'm just trying to be happy… I just want to be happy… No, I want him to be happy.'_

So that's what love was like. To put someone's happiness before your own… even if it meant for you to be unhappy. Well… that was stupid. Sweet… but stupid.

Hinata continued to read the letters, getting more and more absorbed into the book.

When she heard a voice fading in, she thought it was a mosquito. But the noise grew louder. Like someone was running up the hallway screaming 'Hina-CHAAAAANNNNN!'. Hinata slowly put her bookmark at her page and softly closed the pages. The yelling grew even louder.

Hinata set her book on the table and climbed down from her chair. She stretched her cramped legs and walked to the door, stifling a yawn. Who would run through a hospital hallway screaming? That was crazy weird.

Hinata opened the door to her office and was immediately tackled to the floor by a blond blur.

Before she blacked out, she managed a, "Naruto-san?"

* * *

><p>He swore he was innocent! He didn't<em> mean <em>to tackle her to the floor! He didn't _want_ to knock her out! AND, he wasn't _trying _to _mole-_

"Molester!" the receptionist cried, smacking Naruto into the nearby wall and moving over to Hinata.

Naruto jumped back up and pointed an accusing finger to the 25 year old. "If ANYTHING, you're trying to _molest _me! Whatever that means!"

The brunette soothed a rising tic and jumped back up to point a finger towards Naruto, "You're the one who busted in here like some criminal with that freaky arm of yours! How could I not think you were some kind of molesting creep!"

It was true. His arm had some sort of rash on it. "Stop using big words, old woman! My arm looks freaky because I need Hina-chan to look at it! Not some old bat to swing at me!"

The woman cracked her knuckles and smiled evilly, "Old _what_?"

Naruto puffed out his cheeks and pulled down his lower eyelids, "You're an old BAT!"

Naruto shrieked and danced away from the woman's punch. He wiggled his butt cheeks and made a giggly school girl face, taunting the quick-tempered woman. She came at him full force but he pranced around the room, laughing haughtily.

* * *

><p>Hinata groaned as she sat up, rubbing her head. She looked around the room and saw… Naruto and Yasu-san jumping around the room like two frogs?<p>

Naruto caught her confused stare and grinned, "Hina-chan!"

Hinata's eyes widened, "Naruto-san, watch ou-!" Hinata ducked her head as Yasu's foot connected with Naruto's face. Luckily, Naruto landed on the sofa, sinking in the leather material.

Yasu jumped down and made her way to Hinata. "I'm sorry for the inconvenience Dr. Hinata. That boy was making trouble. I told him you weren't taking patients but he barged through and said I was a liar! "

Hinata sighed and smiled in Naruto's dizzy direction. "Naruto-san does seem to get in trouble a lot…And that does seem like something Naruto-san would do… So, I'm sorry. I should've been working instead of reading."

Yasu smiled, "You deserve the breaks! You work too hard!"

Hinata blushed with embarrassment.

"I better go back to my post," Yasu murmured, "Do you want me to take him with me?"

"No, no thanks. I don't think he'd like that."

"Alriiight. Just be careful, he has that _molester _look about him. Anyways, have a good evening, doctor!"

Yasu left the room with a silent glare to Naruto and then back to her post.

Hinata was red. What did she mean by molesting look?

She took a deep breath and stooped beside Naruto, grabbing an icepack. She placed the cool item on his bruised cheek and smiled softly at him.

He grinned at her and gave a thumbs up. "Hiya, Hina-chan!"

"Naruto-san," Hinata sighed, her hand unconsciously playing with strands of his golden hair, "I think you're weird."

Naruto looked disheartened and Hinata gave a light giggle.

"That's a _good _thing," she laughed, "It means you're fun, it means I find you _unique_." She picked up his arm and inspected the red rash on it. "Not to forget that you're also spontaneous as well." Hinata reached into her cabinet for the same cream she used on Naruto yesterday. She uncapped it and rubbed the lavender substance on the rash area. "Just how did you manage to damage your skin again so soon?"

Naruto grinned sheepishly and scratched the back of his head- a nervous trait of his. "Baa-chan Tsunade gave me another D-rank mission. I was helping remove the weeds from some old lady's garden…"

Hinata finished applying the cream and placed it back into the cabinet. She removed the ice pack from his cheek and placed it back in the freezer. "That still doesn't explain how. Your skin is strong and rough from all that training you do. Someone like you would only get a rash if you've been rubbing your arm against a bunch of weeds for hours… You didn't do that, did you?"

Naruto laughed nervously. That was exactly what he did. But he wasn't about to tell her that… "No way! The weeds were just… really wild! I didn't know what to do!... So I kinda failed my mission since the old fart didn't like what I did to her garden…" That was close to the truth… What really happened was that he confused some of the flowers with weeds and the lady went ballistic…

Hinata laughed and scooted back up onto her spinning chair. She spun around, her long midnight-blue hair flapping around and her soft laughter filling the air. Naruto couldn't help but watch her and feel at ease. She was… so innocent. It was scary to believe that the lives of others rested in her innocent hands and it was harder to believe that she could be capable of becoming a deadly assassin at any moment.

She stopped spinning and rested her cheek on her curled fist. "You know, Naruto-san. I like to garden. You could've come to me to ask for help with weeding if you wanted."

Naruto face palmed himself. So gardening AND weeding could be done TOGETHER! He went through all that scratching for nothing then!

At his flustered position, Hinata giggled again, "You're such a strange person, Naruto-san. I like people like you. You don't care about what others think."

Naruto blushed a bit. Her words were so kind and sincere…

Hinata walked back over to him with a Kleenex in hand. She lightly dabbed at the lavender cream until it was all removed. It revealed restored tan skin.

"And your skin is healthy once again," Hinata chirped, dumping the tissue in the dustbin. "You're done now! Do you want a lollipop?"

Naruto's stomach growled. It was only 5 but he hadn't eaten yet since breakfast. "More like ramen," the blond mumbled. An idea popped into his head. Just as Hinata was about to pick up her book again, Naruto startled her with his loud voice, "Hey, Hina-chan! Do you want to go to Ichiraku's with me?"

Naruto stood up and stretched, eagerly looking into her pearl orbs.

Hinata made a thinking face, her lower lip jutting out and an eyebrow raised. She tapped her chin and thought about it.

At the different faces she was making Naruto was either mentally jumping for joy, sulking or begging on his knees. He really wanted to get to know her. He didn't like feeling so guilty and her company… was soothing…

Hinata twirled around in her chair, still tapping her chin. She wanted to read and she might've had a patient while she was gone… But she had a full hour left… They wouldn't eat ramen for that long, right?... And Naruto was making funny faces. He really seemed to want her company… And who was she to refuse an invitation from a handsome man? Maybe she could find out more about him… Her friends told her that Naruto was indeed her friend… but she never really saw him during her memory-regaining phase, hence, the formality she addressed him with… She also really wanted to know what he was talking about during the war. He mentioned something with Pain… She only knew that a guy by that name destroyed Konoha and he meant something about her standing up for him… She asked Kiba and Shino but they said nothing, so she didn't press on it. And as all other things she didn't press on, she forgot all about it.

"I'd love to, Naruto-san!"

Naruto pumped his fist into the air. "Dattebayo!"

Hinata giggled.

"Nee-chan! I-."

Hinata and Naruto turned to see Hanabi standing in the doorway. Her mildly happy expression faded to one of great irritation. "Uzumaki-san," she whispered murderously, "Why are you here?"

Naruto stepped back, his danger instinct ringing off the charts. Hanabi stepped closer, cracking her knuckles.

"Na, na, Hanabi-chan," Hinata said, embarrassed, "Naruto-san is my patient." Naruto nodded quickly.

"He looks fine to me."

"I just treated him."

"Then why isn't he gone?"

"Because we're going to Ichiraku's for ramen."

Naruto was nodding and agreeing with everything Hinata said in order to avoid being pummeled … but Hanabi was advancing dangerously close.

"You're trying to court my sister without me or my father's consent! I shall eliminate y-."

Hinata quickly snatched her sister from behind and sighed while blushing. "Hanabi-chan," Hinata murmured, placing her irate sister back down. "We're going as friends, right Naruto-san?"

"Hai! Hai!"

Hanabi looked smug, "Fine. Since it's a friendly dinner, I'm coming along."

Naruto frowned. He didn't really want extra company… especially not that she-beast.

Hinata sighed, "But you don't even _like _ramen, Hanabi-chan."

"So?"

"Fine. Is that okay, Naruto-san?"

Naruto cringed from Hanabi's glare which went unnoticed by Hinata. He _really, really _wanted to say no. Hanabi clearly didn't like him… "Sure!"

"Oh and I'll be asking father to join us, of course!"

Hinata didn't seem to mind, Hanabi walked out of the room plotting ways to make the blond's life hell for trying to take her sister away and Naruto… fainted.

Hinata rushed to his side and tried waking him up the only way she knew. She took a pencil and repeatedly poked him in the side.


	4. Family Date

**Enchanted**

"_Just because you're not paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get you."_

~Colin Sautar

**Chapter 4: Family Date**

His restaurant's atmosphere felt … awkward.

Teuchi, the proud restaurant owner of Ichiraku's Ramen, nudged his daughter in the side, keeping his smile in place. "Are you seeing what I'm seeing?" the old man murmured to Ayame, "I'm old so maybe I'm seeing things."

"I see the Hyuuga Head and his youngest daughter _in_ our restaurant along with Naruto and Hinata… Like some group outing… Maybe I'm seeing things… It's been a while since I've been to the doctor…" the brunette whispered.

"Maybe we both should schedule an appointment tomorrow?"

"Yes… Yes, that would be best."

Ayame was confused. Just how could she approach them? They all seemed so wrapped up in their own little worlds...

"So who's gonna take their order?" asked Ayame.

Before Ayame could hear her father's reply, she felt a breeze. Her father was gone. "Man's a ninja sometimes, I swear," she muttered under her breath.

This was going to be difficult.

The Hyuuga Head was seated at the far right, when Naruto came in he _tried _to sit next to Hinata but Hiashi grabbed him and set him in between himself and his youngest daughter, and then Hinata was beside her sister. Naruto was looking down at the table, trying to will away the glares both Hiashi and Hanabi were boring into his skull. There seemed to be some killing intent on their side… But on Hinata's side, the girl was perfectly calm, observing the ramen posters on the wall, remaining completely oblivious to the dark atmosphere to her right.

Luckily, Hinata solved her dilemma right on time. The heiress retracted from her thoughts and turned to the brunette.

"Oh, sorry to keep you waiting!" Hinata apologized in her highly adorable voice, "May I have miso ramen, please?"

"Certainly!" Ayame chirped. The brunette waited for the others to order… but they didn't.

Hinata followed Ayame's gaze to the three beside her. "Hm? Hanabi-chan, Tou-san, Naruto-san, will you not order?"

Naruto sighed as the two Hyuugas diverted their attention away from him for a second. But all he needed was a second. In a blur of clumsy movements, Naruto escaped their clutches and ran to sit beside Hinata, much to their disapproval.

Naruto latched onto Hinata's arm, nearly startling her with his sudden movements. "Naruto-san?"

"Why did you move?" Hiashi asked calmly, knowing very much _why _Naruto went running for the hills.

"U-Uh,… I figured that Hina-chan would be uh… Lonely! … So I, uh, decided to, um, move here!"

Before Hiashi could say anything, Hinata smiled at the blond grabbing her arm. "That's so sweet!" Hinata turned to her family, "Right, father, sister?" Hinata patted his blond head, "Always thinking of others…"

Hiashi and Hanabi frowned. No matter what they did, they couldn't compete with Hinata. She was too… innocent… too "Hinata". So they withheld a sigh and said 'yes'.

Naruto sighed in relief. Hinata really saved him there… Naruto smiled smugly. Hinata was the key! The key to not being shredded to bits by her family, that is! He just had to stick with her and he'd be safe…

"Pork ramen, please!" Naruto ordered happily.

"As usual," Ayame murmured. She then turned to her first time guests, "A-And for you two?"

"We'll have what Hinata is having," said the two Hyuugas at once.

* * *

><p>As soon as Ayame disappeared, the Hyuuga Head and his youngest daughter slowly spun their heads in Naruto's direction, glaring.<p>

The blond was sweet talking his way into their precious flower's innocent circle. And that was absolutely _not _acceptable in any way possible. He was not worthy of her.

The way she laughed politely at his nonsensical antics made them sick. A lady such as her deserved someone equal to her level. Naruto was thousands of feet away from her level. Maybe millions.

Ayame came back with their orders, placing them before their owners.

After they said their thanks, the trio began to eat their ramen. Trio because only the Hyuugas were eating the ramen as civilized people should.

The idiot was slurping his noodles, sending the soup flying left and right, allowing it to stain his outfit and face.

Hinata was giggling at the childish manner he ate in, not seeming to be bothered by it. However, Hiashi and Hanabi were disgusted by it.

"Boy," came Hiashi's deep and powerful voice.

Momentarily stepping away from his ramen paradise, Naruto felt the chill of the glare Hinata's father gave him. "Y-Yes sir?"

"You are in the presence of two young ladies. Stop eating like a wild beast and slow down."

"Father," Hinata whined. Hanabi held back a laugh.

"Right, Hyuuga-sama… However, I only see one lady… and that's Hinata… the other's a she-beast."

Hanabi went rigid and this time Hinata held back a laugh by coughing into her ramen.

"I'm kidding though," Naruto quickly said before anyone could beat him senseless. He ate his ramen slower and mumbled into the noodles, "the other's just a beast."

Hinata, being the only one that heard, hung her face over her ramen, allowing her long locks to cover her giggling face. She pursed her lips together as her shoulders trembled and little quiet laughs escaped from her mouth.

Naruto grinned cheekily and the two stern-faced Hyuugas frowned… deeply.

Their flower was growing some new petals. Petals they did _not _like at all.

* * *

><p>The dinner continued on the same. Naruto made an extremely rude remark about Hanabi, Hinata struggled between laughing like an idiot and keeping quiet out of respect for her sister, Hanabi strained to hear whatever it was that had Hinata acting so strange and when she did, she'd send chakra slap coming Naruto's way and Hiashi, like now, was questioning the boy as if he'd committed murder.<p>

"How old are you?"

"18."

"Do you drink?"

"No… But never ever give Bushy Brows sake!"

"Where do you live?"

"Apartment complex B, room 42C."

Hiashi made a mental note of that. He would visit the blond one day… "What's your ranking?"

"…Genin…"

"What do you have for breakfast?"

"Instant ramen!"

"What do you have for lunch?"

"Ichiraku's ramen!"

"What do you have for dinner?"

"Which dinner? 'Cause I have dinner twice, one now and the other at midnight. Gotta have my ramen needs fulfilled."

Hiashi's eyebrow twitched. "What do you eat?"

"Ramen, ramen, and more ramen! Oh yeah, and I sometimes eat…" Naruto hushed his voice as he whispered this, "Sakura-chan's gross soldier pills," he raised his voice again, "… But only when she's watching me eat it, otherwise I throw them into the nearest bush I can find! Uhhh and I once had Hinata's onigiri! It was delicious!"

"Onigiri?" Hinata repeated, confused.

"Mhm! When we were smaller you made me one and gave me! It was so cool 'cause it was like my face was on it and stuff but you were all shy when you gave it-"

"I was shy?"

"Yeah! And REEEAAALLLYYY quiet! You could hardly ever spea-"

Hanabi jumped over Hinata and placed a hand to Naruto's mouth. She gave Naruto a glare with evil glints in her eyes. "Say anything about my sister's past and I'll kill you. Got it?"

Naruto nodded briskly.

Hanabi sat back down and Hiashi continued his flow of questions. "Can you cook?"

"Yup!"

"What?"

"Instant Ramen!"

The Hyuuga sisters sighed. Hinata gave Naruto a weary smile. Why was her father asking him so much questions?

"What's your goal in your petty life?"

Naruto walked around the insult and grinned, "To become Hokage!"

"Hn. I highly doubt that someone like you would become Hokage."

Naruto raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Hm? But I'm gonna become Hokage next year. Baa-chan's handing me the position! Besides, when we were having the Hokage candidate nominations I clearly remember you voting for me."

"Do not lie in my name boy!"

"But you said that I was a strong, confident, and respectable young man…"

"As if one lie wasn't good enough, but two! Two lies to the Hyuuga Head! You make me sick! What scu-… Oh wait. I did say that, didn't I?"

Naruto nodded, Hanabi and Hinata slumped forward.

Naruto dropped his chopsticks and grinned like Cheshire cat. "Hyuuga-sama," he sing-songed in a dark voice, "You have to apologize to me now."

"Never," the man said flatly, activating his Yamato face.

Naruto looked behind him then spun his head around slowly and mechanically, his ghoul-eyes expression on and his Cheshire cat grin remaining in place. "Never … say… never," he whispered eerily.

Hinata chilled, Hanabi felt self-cautious and Hiashi fought back a cringe. The blond idiot's intimidating face was surpassing his.

Hiashi intensified his glare and deepened his frown. "I said never."

Their match of the scarier faces continued until Naruto's 10th bowl of ramen came. The three Hyuugas were still on their first.

"Have you ever thought about marriage?"

Naruto brought his chopsticks to his lips. "Hmmmm. Ero-sennin said that if a woman asks me that I should turn tail and run to another village, change my identity and stay out of the public for three months then go back home…But you're a dude so I guess that doesn't apply..."

Hinata and Hanabi nearly choked on their ramen.

_He called me a… dude_. _This boy shall not live to see his 19__th__ birthday._

"So I don't think I've ever thought about that… I'm still not sure what it is…"

Hiashi visibly cringed. The boy was a blubbering idiot… and blond! "What kind of qualities do you look for in a potential woman to ensue a relationship with?"

After rearranging Hiashi's complicated words to easy ones, Naruto answered,"Oh! I want a girl that's pretty, sweet, kind, loves to make me ramen and won't hit me so much… I've had my fair share of hits during my lifetime… I deserve some kind of relief…"

_Finally_, Hiashi sighed mentally, _a sentence from his mouth that isn't putrid._

Oh, Hiashi. He was wrong. _Very _wrong.

"Oooo yeah! And Ero-sennin said that I should add this to my list! She should be _very_, _very _soft and nice to feel. She should have big bazookas and nice wide hips too! Oh yeah and she should be shaped like this!" Naruto made a coca-cola bottle shape in the air, with his tongue sticking out at the side of his mouth from fierce concentration.

Hinata coughed up her ramen and fainted, Hanabi fell right next to her sister and Hiashi unsheathed his sword.

"U-zu-ma-kiiii," Hiashi drawled in a dark, menacing tone. Evil glints sparkled within his eyes and a twisted grin etched its way onto his face. "You shall die. Right here. Right now."

"Oi! Oi! Oi!" Naruto cried as Hiashi lunged at him with the sword, "You're freakin serious! What the hell did I say!"

Hiashi drew his sword from the wall and pointed it at Naruto who was on the other end of the restaurant, clutching his ramen bowl and still slurping noodles from it.

"Idiot boy! Put the food down now and meet your doom!"

Naruto shrieked as Hiashi came at him again.

The two continued their game of run- and- slash- the- ramen- hugging- blond inside the restaurant until they both took it outside and into the Konoha night air.

Ayame came out with Naruto's 11th bowl of ramen and sighed. The restaurant was trashed and Hinata and Hanabi lied on the ground unconscious.

"I'm definitely not cleaning this up."

* * *

><p>"That boy is no good for my sister at all!" Hanabi fumed as she paced about her father's study.<p>

Hiashi sat in his seat, bouncing his sword on one leg and holding onto the handle tightly.

"We have to keep him away from her. He is a bad influence." Hiashi agreed.

"He is not worthy of her."

"She nearly died because of him!"

"We will not forgive him."

"The likes of him to just parade into her life like that!"

"And someone like _him_, no less!"

"The godforsaken hair color upon his head!"

"Blond," Hanabi sneered, "It's too bright, too cheery… too much urine-looking."

"That orange jumpsuit he calls an outfit!"

"He has the fashion sense of kelp! Our robes are much better than what he wears!"

"And does he eat anything besides ramen? The boy has had not one decent meal!"

"The ruffian he is!"

"But, putting aside all his faults," Hiashi sighed, calming down, "There's one thing that'll make us reconsider getting rid of him…"

Hanabi sat down and crossed her arms. "What's that?"

"He makes her happy… much happier than she's ever been."


	5. The Pure and the Kiss

**Enchanted**

"_The serenity of mind, gentleness, silence, self-restraint, and the __purity__ of mind are called the austerity of thought._"

~Bhagavad Gita quotes

**Chapter 5: The Pure and the Kiss**

Naruto stirred in bed, finding some interesting spot on the wall to stare at.

"_Onigiri?" _

For some strange reason, he'd been up for an hour, repeating that very phrase. The tilt of her head, the honest confusion brewing about in her eyes. It didn't sit well with him.

"_Mhm! When we were smaller you made me one and gave me! It was so cool 'cause it was like my face was on it and stuff but you were all shy when you gave it-"_

"_I was shy?"_

Again, honest confusion swam about her eyes. Didn't she know that she was shy? That she was always his quiet, dark, weirdo?

He thought that her memory had been restored ages ago. Apparently there were still some potholes here and there.

"_Say anything about my sister's past and I'll kill you. Got it?"_

A death threat. From the evil sister. What did she mean by it? Why wouldn't she want Hinata to know about her past? If anything, Hinata was entitled to that.

Maybe… was that how she seemed so different now? Like a brand new person? Kindness. That was the only quality of hers he remembered that remained. Now, instead of shy, she was extrovert, instead of dark, she was bright and sunny, earning his ability to make anyone smile, instead of weird… she turned the tables on him and made him the weirdo.

Not that he didn't like her new personality… he just felt closer towards the old one. This one felt like a complete stranger… although he could not help but develop a strong liking towards this stranger.

Naruto sat up and stretched. Befriend her. That's what he needed to do. That's what he had already decided to do. That way, maybe she'd remember more about herself.

"_Is there something wrong, Naruto-san?"_

"_Naruto-san, I think you're weird."_

"_You know, Naruto-san. I like to garden."_

"_You're such a strange person, Naruto-san."_

"_I'd love to, Naruto-san!"_

"_Naruto-san is my patient."_

"_Fine. Is that okay, Naruto-san?"_

"_Hm? Hanabi-chan, Tou-san, Naruto-san, will you not order?" _

Naruto-san, Naruto-san, Naruto-san. What happened to the 'Naruto-kun'? Maybe she'd learn more about him too in his quest of friendship.

But in order for there to be friendship… he needed to get the pesky Hyuugas out of the way. Why did it always seem like they hated his guts? He didn't particularly _do _anything. He still wasn't sure what he did yesterday to earn a sword chase from Hiashi. Was it something he said?

Anyways, he had a mission to accomplish before he could fully befriend Hinata.

And this mission's name was: Operation Get Hiashi to Like Me.

* * *

><p>"Oh my. You're sick?"<p>

Hiashi nodded gravely. "Unfortunately, I am." He held his daughter's hand and as manly as possible said, "Take care of me?"

Hinata smiled at her father's childish antics and kissed his forehead, "Of course I will, daddy. It seems like when your sick, you're such a sweet and kind person… Not that you aren't… Well you aren't but… Um… Soup?"

Hinata dashed out of her father's bedroom and to the kitchen. "No noodles, please!" she heard her father call.

"Good morning, Hinata-sama!"

"Why are you running, Hinata-sama?"

"Are you in need of anything, Hinata-sama?"

"Is everything alright, Hinata-sama?"

Hinata steered her way through the winding hallways and corners, managing to not run into the different branch members carrying out their duties.

"I'm fine, thank you!" Hinata responded cheerfully, "Daddy's just sick!"

Whatever they had been doing immediately stopped, items held crashed to the floor and mouths gaped.

"Hiashi-sama? Sick? Impossible! I don't believe it."

In a flash, Hinata made the soup, at the same while fighting off her cooks who were against the heiress engaging in any kind of physical labor, and ran back in the direction of her poor, sick, father. "Believe it!" she said to the branch members.

* * *

><p>Ok. He wasn't sick. If anything, the only thing sick about him was the foreign ramen that entered his system yesterday.<p>

He along with his youngest daughter, decided upon one safe way to keep Hinata away from foxboy. Hinata had a big heart. She was a doctor because she was a softie and hated suffering. If he pretended to be sick, he could have her stay with him for weeks and foxboy would eventually fade away. Then his daughter wouldn't be influenced by his robust behaviors and she'd happily marry someone of his choice.

That was the way it was supposed to be.

His plan was foolproof. Nothing could and would screw it up.

* * *

><p>"Open… And here comes the chu-chu train," Hinata giggled in a playful voice.<p>

Hiashi opened his mouth and accepted the 77th spoon of nothing but broth. It wasn't so bad. Spending time with his daughter was a _good _thing. Although, he could deal _without_ the voices. He wasn't a 3 years old.

"And here comes the chu-chu train!" Hinata chirped again.

Hiashi forced back a grimace and accepted it… again. It didn't taste bad, it just tasted bland. Just like he liked it.

After the soup was finally finished, Hinata set her hands in her lap and sighed as she placed the bowl on the table. "Well, since that's done, I'll just leave you to sleep and regain your energy while I go to wor-"

"No!" Hiashi said a little too loudly for the regular sick person. Hinata looked at him quizzically. "I mean… I want you to read me… a story before you go… A _very _long story. One that would preferably take until 6pm in order to finish."

"Well that's specific," Hinata mumbled. She still got up though. "And I'll do just that when I check up on things at the hospital."

"But, daught-"

"Daddy, I am a grown, working, young woman. As much as I would love to abandon my job in order to just take care of you, I can't. Besides, I'll be back in ten minutes. Neji can watch you for only ten minutes."

Hinata kissed her father's forehead and headed through the door. She stopped at Neji's room door and without bothering to enter, she told him, "Please take care of father for a while since he's sick, I'm going to go check up on things at the hospital."

With that, she left, oblivious to the tycoon she just created.

* * *

><p>"Hiashi-sama is sick!" Lee shouted as he rushed to open the door of Neji's room. He and his most un-youthful teammates had been sparring in the dojo a while ago and Tenten needed some more scrolls. Neji was going to go for some spare ones in his room, but being the gentleman of youth Lee was, he offered to go instead.<p>

Those scrolls were forgotten on the floor as Lee busted into Hiashi's room in a whirl of green. Sporting the nice guy pose to the nearly heart-attack-prone Hyuuga Head, Lee flashed a bright white smile and shouted, "Do not fear, Hiashi-sama! In Hinata-san's absence I shall take care of you in the most youthful ways possible! Let us start with getting you in some spandex of youth!"

Hiashi chilled and tried to run away from Lee's approaching figure but Hinata had tucked him into the bed too tight. What he was doing now made him look like a dying worm.

Oh, Kami.

He was stuck with the spandex-loving freak.

* * *

><p>Flowers. He wasn't sure what was so special about them but if Hinata liked them, Hiashi would like them too, right? That's why he was here, at Ino's flower shop, staring at the bunch of colors as if they had committed murder.<p>

"Oi! Baka Naruto! Are you going to buy anything or what?" Ino asked, highly irritated by the blond's strange antics.

Naruto ignored the platinum blonde and continued to stare at the flowers, almost willing them to speak. "I need something that says sorry," Naruto murmured.

What he really needed was something that said _I'm-super-sorry-for-doing-whatever-I-did-to-have-you-chase-me-with-a-freaking-sword_.

Ino rolled her blue eyes picked out a neatly arranged bouquet of white lilies, matching Naruto's description of flowers that said 'I'm sorry.' "How about these?"

Naruto quickly turned around and eyed the plants suspiciously. "I'll take them!"

Ino sighed as Naruto handed her the money. "So who are they for? Sakura, to apologize for doing something stupid?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, "Sakura-chan's supposed to be out "sick". She doesn't want me bothering her now or I'm sure she'll beat the snot out of me when teme rejects her… _again_. These are for an important Hyuuga."

Ino raised a perfectly shaped eyebrow at this, intrigued by the new information. "Important Hyuuga, ne?" Ino gave a wink Naruto was confused about. "If you're expecting a little something, something, these will definitely earn you that. It's "this certain Hyuuga's" favorite."

In the center of the vase of white was a lilac rose. Hiashi sure must've been a feminine person.

Ino didn't stop with the flower though, she also replaced the plain vase with one made of Everglade glass making it look all fancy like.

"This "certain Hyuuga" is going to definitely love you after this!" Ino squealed.

Naruto grinned. If Hiashi loved him, he wouldn't bother him and Hinata anymore!

"Thanks Ino!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran out of her store.

The blonde rested her elbow on the table and her cheek on her fist. "The old Hinata would love me for doing this."

* * *

><p>Hinata walked through the village happily, enjoying her little stroll to the hospital. Her father wouldn't mind if she was a <em>few<em> minutes late. He liked Neji.

Inhaling the warm and friendly Konoha air, Hinata began to skip her way through, allowing the rest of the villagers to smile and laugh at her cutesy action. She always was a village favorite.

"Thanks Ino!"

Hinata looked behind her to find the source of the very familiar voice. Naruto! "Naruto-san!" Hinata called to the blond as she ran to him.

Naruto quickly turned around and grinned. "Hey Hina-chan! Whatcha doin?"

Hinata skidded to a stop and smiled. "I was just going to the hospital. You?"

"I was going to give these flowers to-"

"Oh my," Hinata whispered, looking directly at the flowers. "Are those for me? They're so beautiful! Lilac roses are my favorite! How did you know?"

Naruto scratched the back of his head, "U-Uh… Yeah! They're for you!"

Naruto handed her the vase and she gladly accepted it. She smelt the delightful aroma and sighed contently. "I love it, Naruto-san." She observed the flowers, trying to grasp their meaning. The white lilies meant he was sorry for something. Probably for the outing last night. And the lilac rose meant… love? No, no, no. Naruto didn't like her like that. They probably meant enchantment.

Hinata blushed a light pink as she planted a soft kiss on Naruto's cheek. "I really adore these flowers," she whispered to his beet red face.

"U-Uh… I…" Naruto muttered some other incoherent words and Hinata giggled.

"There's no reason to get flustered over a little kiss on the cheek, Naruto-_kun_. It's not like you haven't been kissed there before. Oh, is it ok if I call you that now? Naruto-_kun_? You seem like a really nice person I'd like to call one of my friends."

Naruto muttered some other incoherent words, his mind being unable to process what just happened. That _was _his first kiss on the cheek from a _really_, _really_ pretty girl!

Hinata laughed, "You're so funny, Naruto-kun… Anyways, I have to go check on things at the hospital and get home quickly. Daddy's sick."

* * *

><p>"Wait, what?" Naruto snapped out of his daze and grinned. "He's sick! That's great!" Naruto said excitedly.<p>

Hinata raised an eyebrow, "Great that he's sick?"

"Oh, no, Hina-chan! It's great because I need a favor from you!"

"Ok."

"Can you pretty, pretty please allow _me _to take care of your father today?" If he could show Hiashi, that he was really a good person, he would love him! "I don't think he likes me very much… But look at me! I'm adorable!"

Hinata poked his tummy and giggled while Naruto smiled. "I think you're more like adorkable. But adorkable's cute too."

Naruto blushed… hard. Did she just indirectly call him cute?

"My, my Naruto-kun! The way you flush after a compliment must mean you have a really big head!"

Naruto pouted and folded his arms, "Do not! My head's the perfect size!"

Hinata laughed at his innocence.

"So what do you say?"

Hinata contemplated Naruto's taking care of her father. That would benefit her since she wanted to go to work… And besides, Neji was there if anything went wrong so nothing could possibly go wrong. Besides, it _did _seem like her father didn't like Naruto that much… "Sure!" Hinata took out a piece of paper and scribbled something on it. She then handed the paper to Naruto. "It's a pass so the guards will let you inside. I wrote the reason you'd be there too so you're good."

"Thanks Hina-chan!" Naruto exclaimed.

"No problem!" Hinata smiled. With the vase in hand, Hinata began to walk away, "I'll see you and my dad at 6, Naruto-kun! Bye!"

Naruto watched her retreating figure and pumped a fist into the air. Operation: Get Hiashi to Like Me was in motion!


	6. Can't Get Enough

**Enchanted**

"_Whenever a man does a thoroughly stupid thing, it is always from the noblest motives_."  
>~Oscar Wilde<p>

**Chapter 6: Can't Get Enough **

Hinata waltzed in the cool evening breeze, smiling warmly and stretching her arms out widely as she twirled happily. Today was such a grand day for her. Everything was peaceful and calm excluding her book breakdown. All she felt like doing was smiling and laughing with everyone and everything. That's what life was right? To smile and be happy. Not focusing on the negatives but focusing on the positives floating around you everywhere. Life was such a blessing.

The skies were a soft pale blue with silver clouds and doting unclearly seen stars. It was approximately 5:30. She decided to leave the office earlier than usual today to check up on things back at home. She had no worries that something went wrong. Sure Naruto seemed… _unstable…_ but Neji was there to keep everything in order.

Everything would be fine.

Smiling and greeting the guard at the gate, Hinata entered her home's compound and smiled brightly. Absolutely everything would be perfect.

* * *

><p>Inside a large and very messy room, things were at a standstill. It was Hiashi Hyuuga-currently battered clan leader of the prestigious Hyuuga- vs Naruto Uzumaki-currently annoyed and determined ninja to make <em>Operation: Get Hiashi to Like Me <em>a success. The former was swatting a frying pan back and forth, swaying on his feet from side to side and holding his head bandages in place. The latter looked less crazy but more annoyed.

"Hiashiiii," the blond whined, daring to take a step further. "Come on, I promis-"

"STAY AWAY, UZUMAKI!" Hiashi yelled, swinging his frying pan left and right like a madman. "I want you nowhere near me!"

Naruto sulked. "Don't you think you're overreacting just a _little bi-_?"

Hiashi's bulging eye twitched uncontrollably. "TODAY **ALONE**, YOU READ ME OBSCENITIES OF THE FILTHIEST KIND, PUT ME INTO A FREAKIN **GREEN** JUMPSUIT, FED ME POISON WHEN I ASKED FOR **WATER**, **SEWED** ME INTO MY BED AND I'VE HAD TO LISTEN TO YOUR OVER-OBNOXIOUS '**DATTEBAYO-ING**' AND THAT SPANDEX-FREAK'S '**POWER OF YOUTH**' SPEECH EVERY SECOND OF THE **DAY**! AND YOU THINK I'M **OVER-REACTING? **YOU'RE LUCKY I FOUND THIS PAN IN THE '**SOUP**' AND NOT MY SWORD! I'D HAVE CASTRATED YOU BY NOW!"

Naruto sweat-dropped and reached for the duct tape once again. Hinata would be here any second now and Lee wasn't here to help detain Hiashi anymore. It looked like things were going down the hard way.

The blond narrowed his eyes and the Hyuuga glared a combination of crazy, twitching and killing intent.

Screeching like two distressed banshees, the two charged after one another, one determined to kill, the other determined to capture.

* * *

><p>Hinata smiled as she greeted the passing branch members with brief hello's or small-talk. The conversations were of light-hearted meaning… that was until the topic of her sister and cousin came up.<p>

"Good evening, Hinata-sama!" a branch member greeted politely, while bowing. Hinata smiled and returned the greeting. "It's nice that one of our youths is home!"

Hinata raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

The woman shifted her basket of clothes and smiled. "Neji-sama and Hanabi-sama have gone to an outing with their friends, Tenten-san and Lee-san. They're very, very nice children. Although the green one is a little weird for our tastes… but his spirit is enriching! They just finished spending a day in the dojo. How hardworking the youths are nowadays! In my day-"

Before the old lady could say anything more, the heiress was but a speck of dust running down the hallways.

The branch-member laughed quietly and went back to her duties. "Hardworking but my, my are they rude to their seniors…"

Hinata dashed through the puzzle-like hallways, her toes screeching against the wooden floor and her body flailing to avoid incoming Hyuugas. She already received death glares from two elders so far… but she didn't care.

Her father… was alone with Naruto for the _entire _day. …Not that she didn't trust Naruto… he just didn't seem like the type to know how to handle the sick… or accept the fact that some people (cough) her father (cough) just didn't like the bright and cheerful types...

* * *

><p>"'TTEBAYO!" multiple hoards of shadow clones screamed out as they disappeared into poofs of white clouds.<p>

Naruto kept multiplying and multiplying but Hiashi kept whacking and whacking at 'em clones with his crazy old geezer laugh that sounded like a mix of a cough and a giggle on full blast.

Naruto was scared to say the least. The man's crazy old grin scared him shitless. It was like he was literally _trying_ to kill him!

"U-zu-mak-iiiiiii!" Hiashi drawled. "I'm going to get youuuu!" He laughed crazily… again… with his brown hair whipping all over the place.

Naruto avoided a close collision with a frying pan to the face and dived underneath the bed. He'd be safe there for now while Hiashi was taking care of his other clones.

Naruto sighed. Maybe his idea _wasn't _that good after all...

* * *

><p>As Hinata approached the main-branch quarters, she began to relax. If anything was wrong, evidently someone would have stopped it. It wasn't like Naruto placed some jutsu on the walls to block out the sound…<p>

She cringed and walked faster to her father's door.

That _was _something Naruto would do.

* * *

><p>Lucky for him that he thought of that sound jutsu hours earlier! Otherwise, the ruckus of Hiashi's laughing and his clones' screams would've alerted the entire ninja world!<p>

From underneath the bed, Naruto watched as Hiashi dispelled his copies with strong kicks and loud whacks to the head with his frying pan buddy.

The blond and his new clone gripped the ends of the duct tape. They shared a knowing glance then charged at the clone ass-kicking Hiashi Hyuuga.

It was now or never.

* * *

><p>Finally, Hinata reached her father's door. She pressed her ear to the wood and heard nothing. Unless they were both asleep then Naruto definitely <em>did <em>place a sound jutsu on the room.

Her hand gripped the knob and she twisted it.

* * *

><p>Hiashi kicked and screamed as Naruto and his clones tackled him to the floor and wrapped his body up in duct tape.<p>

After many grunts and kicks here and there, the clones finally managed to succeed in wrapping the clan leader up like a worm.

"DATTEBAYO!" the clones chanted happily. "WE WON!"

Their victory came to a short end when the doorknob began to twist and the painstakingly familiar voice was heard. "Naruto-kun?"

Naruto paled as he glanced around the completely trashed room and looked at the writhing Hiashi trying to break free of his duct taped prison. Aw, shit.

* * *

><p><em>10 hours earlier…<em>

Grinning excitedly as he bounced towards Hiashi's room was Uzumaki Naruto. With his permission slip from Hinata, the guards let him in easily and even provided directions to the Head's room.

As usual, the Hyuuga walls were dull and, as Lee would put it, 'highly un-youthful'. The only place he remembered actually having some color would have to be Hinata's small garden of vibrantly-colored flowers.

He blushed a bit, remembering the soft kiss she planted on his cheek. He smiled quietly and paced slower. It was… really sweet...

Snapping him out of his thoughts, Naruto heard shouts coming from his very journey's destination, Hiashi's room. As he crept closer, he could distinguish two voices. One definitely belonged to Hiashi… and the other's was… Bushy Brows?

Naruto ran into the room to see Lee trying to fit Hiashi into a green jumpsuit.

"Bushy Brows!" Naruto exclaimed.

The two arguing men turned to the blond's direction.

"You!" shouted Hiashi.

"Naruto-kun! What brings you here?" Lee asked. "Are you in need of a wonderful match between our youthful powers?"

Hiashi narrowed his eyes. "What _are _you doing here… and where is my daughter?"

Naruto grinned brightly and waved his permission slip from Hinata in the Head's face. "Hina-chan sent me to take care of you!"

Hiashi promptly fainted.

Lee jumped with glee and pumped his fist into the air. "That is wonderful, Naruto-kun! Hinata-san asked me to take care of Hiashi-sama as well! Let us take care of him together and youthfully!"

Naruto grinned at the thought of having extra help and bumped fists with Lee. "YOSH!" the two declared.

They then turned to the passed out clan leader.

"So what do we do now?" Naruto asked.

Lee held up his green jumpsuit. "Gai-sensei always said to me, 'When in doubt my youthful spring flower, always have your spandex near and you will never fear.'"

"How many times did he tell you that?"

"Once. That's because we always wear spandex so I can never be in doubt. But I knew what he meant."

"So where does the jumpsuit fit into this?"

"Hiashi-sama lacks youthfulness. The color green is the color of youth!"

"But he's sick..

"Oh, silly Naruto-kun! Youthfulness conquers all!"

Naruto shrugged and with utmost quiet and carefulness, the two approached Hiashi with the jumpsuit ready for combat.

* * *

><p>Hinata sighed happily as she took another whiff of the flowers. Her office looked much brighter with them in there.<p>

She hopped into her special chair and cracked out her book. It was time to find out if Yuki got her happy ending or not!

* * *

><p>Hiashi woke up feeling uncomfortable… and like his body was being hugged in all the wrong places. He had a horrible dream that his daughter sent two atrocities to take care of him. His eyes slowly opened and he yelled.<p>

It was no dream. For right in front of him were two pairs of blue and black eyes.

"He's awake!" the blond one chanted.

"How do you feel, Hiashi-sama?" asked the one with a bowl-cut.

"What are you two idiots talki-?" Hiashi stopped trying to get up. He felt like he was completely draped in… spandex?

His eyes widened as he eyed his green covered arms. He peaked under the covers and screamed bloody murder.

* * *

><p>Neji looked around curiously. He was sure he heard a scream of some sorts. He turned back to Tenten and Hanabi. "Did you two hear that?" he asked.<p>

Hanabi shook her head.

Tenten whipped out her kunai. "My mother always told me its best to ignore things. Especially if they sound weird."

"How many times did she tell you that?"

"Only once. But I knew what she meant."

* * *

><p>Hinata sobbed into her tissues. Oh the angst! The drama! Why Reji, why? Why can't you see how much Yuki loves you?<p>

A knock sounded on her door.

"Come in," Hinata droned.

It was a little boy with a scraped knee. "The nurse told me to come here," he said quietly. It wasn't every day he came to see a doctor and saw a crying woman.

Hinata wiped her tears and set the boy on the couch as she proceeded to tend to him… and vent about all the recent events taking place in her book.

* * *

><p>"Naruto-kun," Lee murmured quietly. "Don't you think the frying pan was a bit much?"<p>

Naruto held his make-shift weapon in one hand and scratched the back of his head with the other. "Well, he was screaming! How else would we shut him up? Besides, I won't do it again since I placed the sound jutsu on the room already."

Lee looked to the unconscious Hiashi whose head was wrapped with bandages and had one eye swollen. "I guess we'll wait for him to wake up again."

* * *

><p>The boy was dumbfounded as the woman healing his wound continued talking about things he didn't understand.<p>

"Don't you _ever _go after the wrong girl, young man! She doesn't love you, you look for the girl that does! Understood, Ryu-chan?"

Ryu cried.

Hinata looked confused. What did she do?

* * *

><p>Hanabi sneezed. "Someone's talking about me," she muttered.<p>

* * *

><p>"Hanabi! Hanabi! Hanabi! Help me!" Hiashi kept yelling as he ran around the room.<p>

Naruto's clones blocked all possible exits and Lee was trying to get Hiashi back into the bed.

"Hiashi-sama!" Lee yelled. "I know the energy the spandex gives is overwhelming but you'll never get better even if you keep running around in it!"

For a second Hiashi stopped to shudder. "GET ME OUT OF THIS THING!"

But it was only a second they needed. They tackled Hiashi to the bed, took out a needle and thread and began sewing.

* * *

><p>"Lollipop?" Hinata offered.<p>

Ryu stopped crying and took the candy.

Hinata sighed and finished healing the boy's cut. The book was doing funny stuff to her...

* * *

><p>Hiashi looked at Naruto. Naruto looked at Hiashi. Hiashi looked at Lee. Lee looked at Hiashi.<p>

The two boys were currently holding onto items for self-defense. Naruto had a frying pan and Lee had a folded newspaper ready for swatting if it came to it.

"Naruto," Hiashi said softly. "Lee… Would you care to explain _why _I'm sewed into my bed?"

"To stop you from trying to run away, sir," Naruto answered.

"But don't worry, Hiashi-sama. If you're good, we'll set you free."

Hiashi nodded quietly. "May I have some water? I feel two headaches coming on…"

"''ttebayo! I'll be right back!" And Naruto was off.

Hiashi sighed.

* * *

><p>Hinata was crying again… But these were happy tears. Yuki got her happy ending with the boy she loved!<p>

She stopped spinning in her chair and placed the book down on the desk.

Her smile faded and her tears stopped. She took a look at her finished obsession and slumped over. Now what was she supposed to do with her life? She felt so empty… so useless…

* * *

><p>Naruto entered the room with "special water". He remembered Sakura telling him something about how to make it when you get sick to make you feel better faster. She said something about some sugar… sewage…onions…<p>

Naruto cringed as he handed Hiashi the cup. He sure was glad he wasn't drinking-

As soon as Hiashi gulped the 'water', he spat it back out into both Naruto and Lee's faces. "WHAT KIND OF WATER IS THIS? IS THIS SEWAGE AND ONION?"

Hiashi tried and failed miserably to scratch his tongue with his fingers.

* * *

><p>Hinata banged her head on the table. She had nothing to do, nothing to expect, nothing to get emotional over…<p>

Her life… was over…

* * *

><p>"Naruto-kun, I must go now. Tenten-chan and Neji-kun must be worrying over my absence. Take care of Hiashi-sama!" With a salute, Lee left in a blur of green.<p>

Naruto and Hiashi stared at each other.

"Un-sew me," the Hyuuga ordered.

Naruto ignored him and changed the topic. "How about I read you a story instead? Hinata said you wanted to listen to a story!... But what story… Hmmm… Ero-sennin wrote books! I'll read one to you! I think I should have one on me now…"

Hiashi frowned. A book couldn't be too bad…

* * *

><p>"I'm back!" Lee yelled. "Do you want to know what I had been doing?"<p>

The three teens sparring in the dojo just took notice of their friend.

"Oh, Lee. You left?" Tenten asked genuinely.

Lee slumped forward.

Tenten rubbed his back. "Aw, Lee. Don't be sad. Let's go get some youthful dangos..."

Lee shot right up. "YOSH! Let's go!"

* * *

><p>Hinata sulked and looked at her book sadly.<p>

She had nothing.

* * *

><p>"Found it!" Naruto yelled excitedly. He sat at the foot of Hiashi's bed, flipped to a random page and began to read. "<em>It was a hot, hot summer afternoon and Mai was feeling rather hot under the collar despite her room being cool. She began to shed her clothes…"<em>

Naruto read on… and on… and on… not noticing that Hiashi had passed out from embarrassment long ago.

"_From afar, Jiro watched Mai's subtle actions with growing desire and- _HOLY SHIT! THIS IS PORN!"

* * *

><p>Hinata was about to bang her head again when she smelt something divinely sweet. She took another waft of the sweet smell.<p>

"Cinnamon rolls," she whispered.

Five minutes later, she was in her office, happily nibbling on the juicy treat and forgetting all of her worries about her book. Cinnamon rolls were _much_ more fun.

* * *

><p>Naruto grinned nervously. He was clearly not making a good impression. But his soup would make the old man feel better, right? All sick people liked soup!<p>

Too bad he didn't know how to make soup and made complete shit instead.

Naruto dug a spoon into the basin- it was the only thing he could find- filled with chunky 'soup' and held it out for Hiashi to drink. "Here comes the chu-chu traaiiinnn."

The sickly green liquid seemed to have a life of its own. It bubbled and made sickening gurgling noises.

The chu-chu train never came. For Hiashi used his chakra to cut himself out of the bed.

Naruto paled as the first thing Hiashi reached for was the frying pan in the basin of shit-soup.

"Narutooooo," the man drawled darkly. And then the crazy look etched its way onto his face. "YOU SHALL DIE, TODAY! HAHAHAHAHA!"

Flinging the basin over his head, Naruto took off and Hiashi took chase waving his frying pan in the air and cackling like Cupid.

* * *

><p><em>Now…<em>

Hinata twisted the doorknob and opened the door only to have her vision blocked by Naruto himself. His face was peaceful instead of stressed and his hair was neat instead frazzled like she thought it would be. At least he didn't _look _like he'd been in some showdown with her father...

"Hiya, Hina-chan!" he exclaimed quietly. He placed his fingers to his lips and allowed her to see her father laying peacefully on his bed, undisturbed and... happy... "We need to be quiet, your father's asleep. Do you want us to talk outside?"

"Um..."

Before she could respond, he closed the door quietly and smiled at her. "It was fun taking care of your father. I think he's really starting to like me!"

"Oh, um-"

He began walking in the opposite direction of her father's room and she had no choice but to follow. "So how was your day at the office? Did you catch up on your reading like you said you would? Did you enjoy yourself?"

She was perplexed, trying to get used to his fast-paced conversation. "Ah... my day was interesting to say the least... and I _did _catch up on some reading... I guess I did enjoy myself... So how's father?"

"Your father?" His voice cracked a little. Before she could question it, he calmly answered. "He's still that same Hiashi we all know and love. He's a real... unique man..."

"Oh. So what did you two do?"

"Ah... you know... I just took care of him... we talked a few times... Nothing major..."

"So nothing went wrong?"

He laughed and nudged her side. "Of course not! I'd think you'd give me a little more credit than that!"

Hinata sighed and smiled as they walked in the evening air. She really should have given him more credit. Of course everything went fine. She was probably just being too paranoid. "I guess so... I just couldn't help but be worried... Not many are able to get along with him..."

"That's ok."

"I guess I should see you off here," Hinata said as they both approached the gates. "Thank you for the flowers again, Naruto-kun and thanks for taking care of my father. I really appreciate it." Stepping on her tippy-toes, she kissed his cheek. "Goodnight!" She turned on her heel and walked back to her home, leaving Naruto holding his slightly red cheek dazedly.

She kissed him... again.

* * *

><p>From his bathroom, Hiashi yelled and squirmed around in his duct tape prison, seeing everything that had just taken place between his daughter and the ruffian only seconds ago from his window. Milliseconds before Hinata had opened the door, the brat had trapped him in his bathroom, placed a sound jutsu on the bathroom walls to keep his cries hidden and shoved every single mess in the room under HIS bed! Not only had the boy made his life a living nightmare today but the boy was also a step ahead in winning his daughter's affections! Over his dead body!<p>

Clevver and sly the Uzumaki was. Hiashi had to give the boy credit for that. But for pride's sake, the idiot was going down. Way, way, way down. It was time to kick things up a notch.


End file.
